Arizona's monument to compromise

After all the nasty things politicians (and their supporters) said to one another before the election and all the nasty things that have been said after the election, what if I told you there were 10 things everyone in America absolutely agrees upon?

First, you'd say I am delusional.

True.

But that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Second, you'd say that if there actually are 10 things about which we all agree, we should build a monument to them.

Well, there are. And, actually, we are.

A little over a week ago, ground was broken at the Arizona Capitol for a monument to the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The project was initiated by comedian/activist Chris Bliss, with whom I first spoke more than six years ago when he was trying to get a bill approving the monument through the Arizona Legislature.

Back then he told me: "Those 10 amendments to the Constitution are like our marriage vows. If we could put a monument to them in each state capitol, we could have a powerful daily reminder of what should be guiding us forward."

We could use such a thing just about now.

Bliss put together a grass-roots organization to raise private money for the monuments. Its website is MyBillofRights.org, where you can see what the monument looks like and, if you wish, contribute.

Bliss chose Arizona as the first state for a monument. The Amendment Monoliths, as they're called, were carved at Kincannon Studios in Austin. Bliss and his group have been raising money for the monument and all the necessary work that goes along with making such an idea a reality.

He's hoping for an Arizona dedication on Dec. 15, Bill of Rights Day.

"It has been a very long haul, but very much worth it," he told me. "The election process is like a national psychosis. It is so nasty, so negative. I sent out a tweet before Election Day saying I can't wait until the election is over so I can go back to hating people I actually know. The truth is, you can't help but wonder after months and months of personal attacks if we can get back to having a normal conversation about anything."

It'll take finding some things we agree upon. Like those amendments protecting speech and religion and gun rights and privacy and so on.

We argue constantly about how lawmakers and judges interpret the amendments, but none of us would say the amendments shouldn't exist.

"One of the things you learn just from reading these amendments and learning just a little about the men who put them together is that this was the result of compromise," Bliss said.

"Individuals among the Founding Fathers differed about how the amendments should be written and what should be included, and I'd guess that things got a little nasty, but they worked it out. They compromised."

In that sense, the 10 monoliths being installed at the state Capitol not only represent a monument to the country's core principles but a monument to compromise itself.

Republicans and Democrats have helped fund the project. And Bliss points out that his group will be dedicating a monument that does not credit a single contributor on site. The plaque will read "From the People, to the Generations that Follow/Celebrating the Enduring Genius of Our Bill of Rights."

"It's been a crazy journey, but I've met some amazing, generous people," Bliss told me. "You go through an election season in the United States and you feel like you have to remind people that Machiavelli and Orwell weren't trying to write playbooks. They were writing cautionary tales. Something like this monument is a solid, enduring reminder of our best collaborative work. We can build on that."

We already have.

In the course of this simple newspaper column, for example, we have increased the number of things we all agree upon to 11: the 10 amendments to the Constitution and the fact that I'm delusional.